I've been thinking about this for a couple of days before joining the discussion. At first, I didn't like the news. I knew eventually that there would be new Star Wars movies, but I thought they wouldn't happen until I was in my forties. (I'm 31 now.) Then I thought about Disney owning Marvel, and how it seems that Marvel has benefited greatly from that association, and then thinking how great sequels could be since they wouldn't be constrained by having to fit into what came before, and having more than enough money to make it happen. The ST could either be the biggest thing to happen to cinema since the advent of recorded sound, or it could be what it was the last time.

Now I'm just wondering- do they recast Han, Leia, and Luke and start near the end of ROTJ, or go further and have nothing to do with those characters? It's not impossible to recast them; if Kirk and Spock could be recast than so could OT characters, but I'd hate to see Star Wars get lumped into that reboot camp by anyone.

I have to guess that the only people overjoyed by this news run the Star Wars brands at Hasbro and the other licensees.

Edit: another thought going off of the 20th Century Fox fanfare. I doubt John Williams would score the next trilogy, since he's got to be 80ish by now.

It's interesting news, to say the least. I haven't been able to fully take in the news since Hurricane Sandy screwed up my internet connection on Monday night.

Part of me is frankly, a bit sad. George Lucas was the source of this universe that we've all grown to know and love. He put out three great films in the form of the OT, and was much beloved for doing so. Episodes 4 - 6 are indellibly etched in the memories of a generation of fans, many of whom were kids when they saw those movies. And that childhood nostalgia has carried Star Wars on for the past 35 years.

When word came out that a Prequel Trilogy was in the works, there was much rejoicing. But with the release of Episode I came monumental second guessing of George's vision. I blame the internet and discussion forums, frankly. Because all of a sudden everyone thought that a fairly extensive home video collection and an internet connection made them a qualified film critic / director / screenwriter. The writing was certainly on the wall after this January, 2012 NY Times article. And I think that all of that fanboy rage made it easy for George to relent, and sell Lucasfilm, thereby walking away from the haters.

As for the future? We'll see. Hearing that GL is involved as a creative consultant is somewhat reassuring. But it will also be interesting to see what a new generation of filmmakers might bring to a new trilogy. The list of directors who might take on the new trilogy is sure to be a great topic unto itself.

Where does the story go? A shift in generations does seem to be in order. The principle actors from the OT are 30 years older than they were in ROTJ, after all. Beyond that, Imy only expectation is that we'll see the droids. They've been there through the whole saga, and it really would not be Star Wars if it weren't seen through the sensor eyes of C-3PO and R2-D2.

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Edit: another thought going off of the 20th Century Fox fanfare. I doubt John Williams would score the next trilogy, since he's got to be 80ish by now.

Ugh! Perish the thought! I can't imagine a SW movie without him scoring it. Madness!

On a seperate note... Just throwing this out there to spark some discussion... With Hasbro producing toys for two of Disney's huge properties, do you think the Mouse House would ever look at buying a toy company to pull under their umbrella? Who makes the Pixar toys now?

I have been on the fence about this until last night when I was drying my five month old son off after a bath with his Clone Wars towel and thought how cool will it be to have "new" Star Wars movies, shows, toys, etc. being released when my son is old enough to get excited for it. So I'll deal with Disney's 8 million mediocre things they will make.

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"A dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about, how many people can make you feel rare?"

With Hasbro producing toys for two of Disney's huge properties, do you think the Mouse House would ever look at buying a toy company to pull under their umbrella? Who makes the Pixar toys now?

Historically, Disney has always split things between toy companies in sort of a "don't put all your eggs in one basket" type approach. They've got Marvel (and now Star Wars) with Hasbro, they let newbie Zizzle pick up the PotC license; TRON went to Spin Masters; Pixar stuff is with Mattel; Pixar, Marvel, and Disney Princess stuff with LEGO; Diney Princess stuff with Fisher Price; some Disney games with Hasbro, etc. Anything is possible though I suppose. Back in 2009 there were a lot of rumors that Disney would rip Marvel out of Hasbro's hands and give it to Mattel and then buy Mattel, but that hasn't happened.

On the topic of 'who's going to lose their license', I really think Hasbro is safe for now. If the discussions between LFL and Disney have been going on for over a year and Hasbro only recently extended their license to 2020, I would think that meant they had to know about plans for 7-8-9 on some level at least. If Disney was planning to rip Star Wars away from Hasbro, why allow LFL to extend the license? Or do folks think that was that George tossing Hasbro one last bone before Disney stomps them?

On the topic of 'who's going to lose their license', I really think Hasbro is safe for now. If the discussions between LFL and Disney have been going on for over a year and Hasbro only recently extended their license to 2020, I would think that meant they had to know about plans for 7-8-9 on some level at least.

You know, Jeff. Didn't Hasbro say to expect something big next year at Toy Fair? I doubt it'd be figures from a new movie, but maybe because of the Big Ds acquisition, they can do something they couldn't with LFL?

With Hasbro producing toys for two of Disney's huge properties, do you think the Mouse House would ever look at buying a toy company to pull under their umbrella? Who makes the Pixar toys now?

Historically, Disney has always split things between toy companies in sort of a "don't put all your eggs in one basket" type approach. They've got Marvel (and now Star Wars) with Hasbro, they let newbie Zizzle pick up the PotC license; TRON went to Spin Masters; Pixar stuff is with Mattel; Pixar, Marvel, and Disney Princess stuff with LEGO; Diney Princess stuff with Fisher Price; some Disney games with Hasbro, etc. Anything is possible though I suppose. Back in 2009 there were a lot of rumors that Disney would rip Marvel out of Hasbro's hands and give it to Mattel and then buy Mattel, but that hasn't happened.

On the topic of 'who's going to lose their license', I really think Hasbro is safe for now. If the discussions between LFL and Disney have been going on for over a year and Hasbro only recently extended their license to 2020, I would think that meant they had to know about plans for 7-8-9 on some level at least. If Disney was planning to rip Star Wars away from Hasbro, why allow LFL to extend the license? Or do folks think that was that George tossing Hasbro one last bone before Disney stomps them?

In addition to all of this, Disney has to know there is a really large Star Wars collector base who will expect consistency - to not deliver that would potentially alienate a lot of people. The key, which you pointed out, was that Hasbro was extended even during the negotiating. No one would have done that if there was a real danger of Hasbro losing the license.

People are still trying to work out whether Disney's $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm was a good or bad idea for "Star Wars," but thanks to George Lucas it will certainly prove to have been a good thing for the world. The legendary "Star Wars" creator has apparently decided to donate the vast majority of that money to charity.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lucas plans to put the money into a foundation that focuses on educational issues, a cause close to his heart. A spokesperson said that “George Lucas has expressed his intention, in the event the deal closes, to donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavors.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Lucas himself commented: “For 41 years, the majority of my time and money has been put into the company. As I start a new chapter in my life, it is gratifying that I have the opportunity to devote more time and resources to philanthropy.”

This holds up with Lucas’ generous behavior over the last few years. In 2010 he signed The Giving Pledge, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s effort to get America’s wealthiest to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. Around the same time, he declared that he would be “dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education,” which he described as “the key to the survival of the human race.”

Love him or hate him, this is an amazingly wonderful thing he's doing.